Potato kurma is a South Indian curry that has a tomato coconut poppy seed base. It pairs well wit rice and flatbreads.
For the second day of this 3 day marathon, it is a very simple kurma or curry cooked in a pressure cooker. Kurma is a South Indian curry and pairs well with plain rice, flavored rice and Indian breads. Shorva is a very common curry (gravy) at home, both at my parents and in-laws place, unlike the kurmas. Shorva is a curry with stew like consistency unlike the kurma, which is slightly thicker in consistency. For a change, I made a kurma.
The theme for this week is cooking in a pressure cooker and I usually cook most of my curries in a saucepan as most of the vegetables cook very fast and so does the chicken we get here in the US. When going though the list of vegetables that take longer to cook, potatoes were on top of my list, hence today's recipe is potato kurma in a pressure cooker.
The beauty about pressure cooking is that the cooking time of the vegetables or the meats is cut down drastically. Once the masala is sauteed, kurma is dome in matter of minutes. Serve potato kurma with plain rice, biryani, pulao, roti or poori.
How to make South Indian Potato Kurma?
Potato Kurma ~ Aloo Kurma
Ingredients
Spice Powder
- ½ – ¾ teaspoon Poppy Seeds
- 1 tablespoon Dry Coconut Slices
- 2-4 Whole Cashew Nuts broken into small pieces opt. I did not use it this time
- 1 Cardamom can use whole or only the seeds
- 1 Clove
- ¼ ” Cinnamon Stick
- ½ teaspoon Shah Jeera or Cumin I used Shah Jeera
Kurma ~ Curry
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- ½ – ⅔ cups chopped Onion or 1 small – medium Onion
- 1 tablespoon approx. Mint chopped (opt. I didn’t use it this time)
- 2 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 2-3 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder adjust to once tolerance level
- 1 – 1 ¼ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
- ¾ cup Tomatoes chopped or 1 medium Tomato chopped I used vine ripe tomato but any variety works
- 3 – 4 small Green Chilies cut vertically into two pieces
- 2 medium sized Red Potatoes approx. 275 – 300 grams (I used red but any variety potatoes can be used)
- Spice Powder
- 1 – 1 ½ cups Water
Instructions
Spice Powder
- Dry roast all the ingredients listed under spice powder until spices are lightly roasted, about couple of minutes.
- Cool the spices and grind to a fine powder. Alternately, add some water to make a smooth paste.
Kurma ~ Curry
- Chop onions, tomatoes, mint and cut the green chilies.
- Peel and cut each potato into 8 – 12 cubes, depending on your preference. I cut each potato into 12 pieces.
- Heat oil in a 3 liter pressure pan or a pressure cooker. A 2 liter cooker would also work for this quantity of gravy.
- Once oil is hot, add onions and saute until onions are light golden brown on medium high flame. This should take about 4-5 minutes.
- If using mint, and saute for a few seconds.
- Add ginger garlic paste and cook until the saw smell is gone.
- Then add coriander powder, chili powder, salt, turmeric and give it a good stir.
- Add tomatoes, mix, cover and cook for a minute or two until tomatoes are soft and mushy.
- Add potatoes, spice powder, green chilies and cook for another minute or two until spices are well coated to the potatoes.
- Then add 1 cup of water, mix well, close the pressure cooker and cook for couple of whistles and let the pressure release naturally. It will take approximately 10 minutes for the pressure to release naturally.
- Note - Pressure cooking for 1 whistle on medium high – high flame and 2 minutes on low also works. Then let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the cooker, taste test the curry and adjust the seasoning. If adjusting the spices, then turn on the stove and cook for few more minutes. If salt is the only seasoning going into the kurma, no need to cook it again.
- Also check the consistency. If the gravy is too thick, add some water and cook the kurma for few more minutes. I did not add any water to my gravy, although my family prefers a bit thinner gravy.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with plain or flavored rice or roti or any Indian bread.
Notes
- I skipped cashew nuts this time but if using, the gravy will be a bit thick and you may need to add some water. Therefore, after the pressure subsides, add some water to desired consistency and cook the kurma for few minutes.
chitra.s.v says
yummy
shanthi says
awesome kurma..done it perfectly...
Preetha says
the kuruma looks so inviting...do link it to my event
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Pavani says
Such a delicious curry. Making it in pressure cooker makes it so much easy and convenient.
Suma Gandlur says
The kurma looks delicious and colorful.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Lovely kurma! I love the addition of mint leaves...Gives it the authentic kurma flavor that we find in restaurants.
harini says
Love this version..I have also started making kurma in a pressure cooker with fantastic results!!
Mireille says
korma looks fantastic - love the rich color of the gravy
vaishalisabnani says
Bookmarked Usha. .the curry is rich and interesting. .could add paneer to it for a richer dish.
Srivalli says
Wow such beautiful clicks usha..the pics makes one want to reach out!
sushma says
Kurma looks delicious Usha. I never added pudina to Kurma's. Must try next time.
Briju Parthasarathy says
Simple yet good recipe
Manjula Bharath says
very very tempting potato kurma 🙂 they looks so inviting dear make me drool here !!
chitra says
Tempting kurma. looks so yummy 🙂